Out of the Gutter
by Char-sensei
Summary: Society is a structure built of tiers, where the wealthy lounge at the top, spitting on those at the bottom. What happens when the foundations of the design crumble, forcing everyone to tumble together in a heap of prejudice? Akuroku, Seiner, Riso


AN: Sorry to everyone who's waiting for a SoL update. I'm working on it, and it should be out soon. This idea just hit me the other day, inspired by something that happened at work, and it just wouldn't leave me alone. It insisted on being written.

Warnings: Yaoi, smut, drug use, and swearing. Oh, and random ass side pairings. Will end as being Axel/Roxas, Seifer/Hayner, and Riku/Sora, though, so no fear.

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

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Chapter 1-

"Look! Mommy, its Ronald McDonald!" The little girl exclaimed, clutching her mother's hand and pointing up at Axel who was standing behind the McDonalds counter.

The smile slipped off of Axel's face, before he grit his teeth, and forced it back on. "Haha, kids." He said, to the embarrassed looking mother.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that." She said, patting the top of her daughters head. "Can I get a cheeseburger happy meal, with apple dippers, and a number eleven, to go?" She asked, and Axel rung it up, and handed her the receipt, before turning, and glaring at his chuckling manager.

He glanced back over at the mother and daughter, making sure they were out of earshot before he started ranting. "I swear, next kid that says that to me, is getting locked in the freezer until the end of my shift."

Sora just laughed even more. "If you hate it so much, just dye your hair, or, you know, cover your tattoo's. I don't believe for a second, that you didn't consider the fact that getting those make you look like a clown." Axel just continued to glare, which made Sora laugh harder. "Now, be a good McSlave, and go clean Playland." Sora said, and handed Axel a spray bottle of sanitizer. Axel just rolled his eyes.

"Make Demyx do it." He complained. He was far above cleaning Playland.

"He's doing dishes."

Axel sighed, and took the bottle. "Whatever, you owe me." He said, and pulled two towels out of the bucket sitting next to the fry station.

"What, for making you do your job?" Sora asked, before jumping when a beeping came over his headset. "Welcome to McDonalds, what can I get for you today?" He asked, now ignoring Axel, and turning to the register to take the person in the drive thru's order.

Axel slowly trudged back to the play area, and pushed the garbage can in front of the door that lead to lobby, closing the area off, and stopping people from coming in.

He started spraying the tables and booths down, when he heard raised voices. He couldn't make out what it was they were saying over the music, and he glanced over towards the window. A tall man with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, was yelling at a smaller blond, who Axel figured, by his looks was a bit younger than himself. He figured the larger man was at least in his late thirties, or early forties, judging by the white streaks in his hair. He could only see the man's back, though, and he frowned when he realized he was yelling at the blond. He didn't think it could be too serious though, since the blond looked utterly unconcerned, and was just staring, moodily off to the side, ignoring the man yelling in his face. He saw the crumpled up McDonalds bag sitting on the table next to them, and he vaguely remembered seeing them inside about an hour ago when he'd just started his shift. He only remembered, because he'd been checking out the blond boy's ass. He chuckled, and went back to his work. It was none of his business anyways.

A minute later a heard a slam and looked back over, sighing in relief when he saw that the older man had just hid the table, not the kid. He also realized that the street lamp right outside had just turned on, and now was illuminating the two of them in a soft glow. He saw that what he'd earlier taken for being dirt on the kids face, was actually a fading bruise. His blond hair, was also very greasy, and tangled looking. It likely hadn't been brushed in a couple days. The two of them were probably homeless, Axel realized, and he felt sympathy for the kid.

Since coming to Hollow Bastion two years previous, he'd been somewhat surprised that the entire population was either college students, retirees, or homeless. The northern section of the city had more families, but they seemed to be more of a minority. So, Axel had gotten pretty used to seeing homeless, and now, for the most part, just ignored them, but he found it was hard to ignore the blond sitting outside. He chalked it up to him being so young. Where was his family? Most of the homeless in the area had probably gotten themselves into their situations, be it drinking, or gambling themselves there, but it didn't seem right for a kid (who was what? 16? 17?) to be forced to live on the streets like this.

There wasn't really anything he could do about it though, and so he pushed those feelings aside, and was about to go back to wiping down tables, when the blonde's gaze met his. Even from this distance, with the window between them, and the growing darkness outside, Axel was surprised by how blue his eyes were. He assumed he hadn't noticed them while he was in the restaurant earlier, because he'd been too busy looking at the kids ass. The boy stared at him for a few moments, and his eyes seemed to be calculating something, before his eyes narrowed and he finally turned to the taller man next to him, and spoke a few calm words. Axel wasn't sure what they were but they just seemed to infuriate the older man even more, and he grabbed his chin, jerking it closer so they were only a few inches apart, and screamed at him some more.

Axel sighed, wishing there was something he could do, and continued wiping down tables. He got two more done before he looked up again at them, and saw the older man, roughly kissing the blond. His blue eyes were open, though narrowed in anger, and Axel noted that even though he wasn't returning the kiss at all, and remained completely passive, he wasn't fighting it. That might've had something to do, though, with the other man's tight hold on his hair.

Axel had had enough, watching by now, though, and he set his towels and spray bottle down, striding over to the door leading outside, and stepping out.

"Is everything okay here?" He asked, trying to sound authoritative. He noted that even though the older man was shorter than him, he still seemed to be pretty well built, and Axel was more than aware that he could very possibly get his ass kicked.

The man turned around, and Axel was now able to see that he had an eye patch over one eye, and his face was adorned with scars. Definitely not the kind of guy you'd invite to tea.

The man's one eye narrowed, and he glared at Axel. "Of course everything's fucking okay." He said.

"I wasn't asking you." Axel replied curtly, and looked back at the boy. "Are you alright?"

"Mind your own business." He replied, eyes just as cold and emotionless as they were when he'd been being yelled at. His reply made the other man laugh, and pat him on the head.

"See, twiggy? Your concern is unneeded. Why don't you go flip some burgers or something?" The eye patched guy said with a smirk.

Axel's eyes met the blonde's glare for a minute, before he turned to go back inside. Whatever, he'd tried to help, it wasn't his fault if the kid wouldn't take it. He picked his towels back up. It's not like he'd ever see the kid again anyways.

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AN: Sorry for the really short first chapter. I'm still developing the idea, and what's going to happen.

Reviews are always appreciated, and help give the author motivation.


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